


Quirky Straw Hats

by VixenRose1996



Category: One Piece, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Crossover, Gen, Luffy is an idiot, Roronoa Zoro Being an Idiot, but knows people, but protective
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-01
Updated: 2020-11-06
Packaged: 2021-03-01 16:33:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 17,616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23940121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VixenRose1996/pseuds/VixenRose1996
Summary: When a devil fruit users blast Luffy & Zoro into the world of My Hero Academia, the find themselves having to live three days among the strictly defined lines of Heroes and Villains. But where do pirates fall on that line? Neither really cares but they also don't like it when a little girl is being hurt by a bunch of superpowered jerks.
Comments: 130
Kudos: 631





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [PreppyClown](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=PreppyClown).



Monkey D. Luffy, Captain of the Straw Hat Pirates, loved a good nap. 

They reminded him of afternoons when it was too hot to spar or hunt that he, Sabo, and Ace would spend lazying around the treehouse. Later on, similar afternoons were spend dozing in a hammock on Going Merry and the Sunny when it was warm out or against Franky’s broad back with a mug of hot cocoa he annoyed Sanji into making when the sea breeze whip up a good chill.

He didn’t, however, like naps that involved being harassed by random animals.

“Shoo, shoo,” he said, swatting at the dark gray bird that’d been pecking at his eye. It warbled and hopped away before flying up to perch on Luffy’s head. “Off!” he snapped, waving it away before something caught his eye. 

Three long marks, each about two inches wide, wrapped around his forearm; they were a dark orange in color and shiny like metal and even glinted in the sunlight when Luffy held up his arm to the sky.

“How did those get there?” he wondered out loud. Then he blinked, looked around at the tall buildings surrounded him, seeming to stretch all that way up to Skypiea, and the piles of smooshed cardboard boxes the littered the alleyway he’d just been sleeping in and blinked again. He turned to the pigeon, “How did I get here?”

The bird just squawked at him and flew off.

“Rude,” Luffy huffed, sticking his tongue out at the pigeon before folding his arms and closing his eyes, deep in thought. If an outsider would have seen his expression, it would have reminded them of a very determined hamster on a wheel going nowhere fast. “Come on, brain! Think! Think! How did I get here?”

* * *

_“_

_"Have a nice trip, Straw Hat Luffy! It'll be a while before you're back.”_

_They’d been ambushed on their way to Zou from Dressrosa; the other pirate has been a big, fat with a big nose and nasty red hair that grew all around his face in every direction; it was nothing like Nami's hair which was pretty, shiny, and felt soft whenever she let him braid it. He and his crew weren’t very impressive but when Luffy went to punch, he was hit in the chest with a blast of orange light._

_At first, Luffy just felt all tingly… but then his stomach jerked and he was yanked backward; it felt like he was being sucked through a straw._

_“Luffy!” Zoro had roared, leaping at him with his arm outstretched._

* * *

“Huh,” Luffy thought, scratching the large, x-shaped scar on his chest, “I guess that is how I got here, Big Nose-guy must have blasted me.”

But that didn’t tell him anything about where he was.

And, more importantly, where his Nakama was.

It wasn’t so much that he was worried they’d be hurt exactly. No, Luffy’s crew was super strong, so were Chicken-Head and Tra-guy (who was definitely Nakama, even if he didn’t want to admit it), and Sanji would never let anything happen to Nami, Robin, Brook, and Chopper. 

Luffy missed them though; after being separated for two years, it hurt to be away from his friends so soon after meeting up again and he was really looking forward to meeting up again in Zou. He scrunched up his face; he was going to punch Big Nose-guy in the face for holding them up.

“Time to go find them, I guess,” he said, hopping to his feet. “First I need to-”

He cut off by his own stomach letting out a loud growl.

“-find some meat!”

Like Sanji always said, you can’t work on an empty stomach. 

* * *

Dabi rolled his eyes as the voice on the phone nagged him. 

_‘It is a shame one of those hands doesn’t cover Shigaraki’s stupid mouth,’_ he thought, hanging up and cutting the leader of the League of Villains of mid-spiel. He’d get chewed out for it later, perhaps, but he didn’t care and nothing would come of it; Dabi was with the group for his own reasons and they needed his firepower. It was a partnership of convenience that neither was willing to break.

“What a drag,” he sighed. _‘I can’t believe I have to put up with that dick until I finally get the chance to get my hands on-’_

“Hey!” 

Dabi turned at the sound of a voice calling out to him, already thinking that he’d have to start off the afternoon roasting some stupid cop or amateur hero. Instead, he saw an older teenager with shaggy black hair underneath a battered straw hat, round dark eyes, and a slim yet extremely muscular build wearing a worn pair of denim shorts with a yellow sash tied around his waist, sandals, and a long-sleeved red cardigan left open to reveal a gnarly X-shaped scar. 

_‘How’d a kid get a scar that bad?’_ Dabi couldn’t help but wonder. _‘His old man must be a real piece of work.’_

The kid was jogging towards him, sandal soles slapping against the pavement which each step, and skidded to a stop when he neared. “Wow,” the kid blinked; he had another scar under his left eye, long and thin, white from age. “What happened to your face?”

The villain scowled and considered turning the brat into charcoal but stopped when he saw the look in the kid’s eyes. Unlike the pity or disgust most people showed when they saw him, the kid only liked at Dabi with open curiosity, like the villain was wearing a cool shirt or something. In fact, it reminded Dabi of a little kid’s innate interest about everything slightly unusual they came across. 

The nice thing about kids is that they are, in general, very honest about their emotions; they didn’t try to fake happiness or sympathy or friendliness or understanding. When kids had a question, they just asked and moved on, accepting what they were told. 

“Fell asleep in a firepit,” Dabi growled. “Now tell me what you want, kid, or beat it, I got things to do.”

“Kid? You’re not that much older than me,” he said, cocking his head to the side before giving a bright, sunny smile and rubbing his stomach. “Where can I find some meat, Scar-guy? I’m starving!”

 _‘Scar-guy? What the hell…’_ Dabi really should have just roasted the kid and moved on but, instead, just thumbed in the direction of a nearby izakaya. “Get on the main road and go left for a couple of minutes, you see a place with a red and gold roof; they have good food.”

The kid gave him another, annoyingly bright, smile and after a quick, “Thanks, Scar-guy!” ran off towards the main road chanting, “Meat, meat, meat.”

Dabi watched him go, “What a weirdo.”

Still, it wasn’t his problem so he just shrugged and rubbed the thick, dead skin under his eye. Another day, another step closer to his goal. 


	2. Chapter 2

Takayuki Yoshie had been running his family's izakaya of forty-six years, since he was twenty-years-old, and had been working there since he was fifteen but he'd _never_ seen a customer quite like this.

"Hey, Gramps," the kid called, charging through the curtained doorway and throwing himself into one of the seats, "I'm hungry! Give me meat!"

Despite his rather rude demand, the teenage boy smiled warmly at the Yoshie as he drummed his hands on the countertop like a toddler. "Meatmeatmeatmeat! I want meat!"

The old man cocked an eyebrow, "You got money, kid?"

It was a fair question, the teen wasn't even wearing a real shirt.

"Yep," No-Shirt chirped, slapping the pocket of his denim shorts. "I got lots of money; Nami gave me some when we got to Dressrosa."

Yoshie didn't know who the hell 'Nami' was or what the hell 'Dressrosa' was, but the kid had money and that was all he cared about. "Fine, what do you want?"

Little did he know how much he'd live to regret that question.

* * *

" _MMMMMhhmmmmm!_ That was **SOOO GOOD**!" The kid cheered, throwing his arms out to express his excitement -matched only by the rice-splattered, ear-to-ear smile plastered across his face- before platting his inhumanly distended belly. "More, please!

Yoshi felt his eye twitch, staring in abject horror at the scene before him. Piles of dirty bowls and plates were stacked at least a four feet high, some tilty at a dangerous angle; the kid's stomach stretched like he had swallowed a watermelon whole- _'must be some sort of stretching quirk,'_ he thought- and the old man was sure he'd seen a couple of plates vanish down the black hole the teenager had for a mouth.

"W-we're all out."

The kid's face into a pout, "You don't have any more meat?"

The fascinated terror turned to annoyance and Yoshi fought the urge to wack the kid over the head with a frying pan. "I don't have anymore **ANYTHING! YOU _ATE_ IT ALL!**"

The kid gave him a puzzled look before tossing back his head, laughing, "Yeah, I guess I do that sometimes. It always makes Sanji really angry, Nami too. Funny, huh?"

Another eye twitch. "Yeah, _hilarious_. I hope you have enough money to pay for all of this, kid."

"No problem," he said, pulling a thick roll of money out of his pocket and tossing it to Yoshie as he went to leave. "Keep the change, Gramps, and thanks for the tasty food. I got to go find my friends."

"Oh, thanks... Hey, what the hell are you playing, kid?" Yoshie snapped, waving a fist full of the unidentifiable bills at the teenager.

The kid turned back and cocked his head to the side in confusion, "What do you mean?"

"What kind of money is this?" he growled.

"Belli."

He looked genuinely confused and, on a different day, Yoshie might have found that interesting but today it just made him angry. "You can't go paying me with foreign money, kid!"

"I don't have anything else."

Yoshie grabbed the kid by the collar of his cardigan and pulled him close, "Well, you better come up with something or I'm calling the cops!"

The kid opened his mouth to answer but went silent, turning to look towards the doorway and brow furrowing like he was hearing something that Yoshie couldn't.

He gave the teenager a shake, "Did you hear me, punk? You better-"

_**BANG!** _

A gunshot rang out, exactly half-a-second after the teenager was shoved backward, tumbling back on his ass and falling behind the counter.

"Alright, hand over your wallets and no one gets hurt!"

It was a punk with an attitude, a gun, and some sort of quirk that made him look like a lizard.

Yoshie was already dialing 110 when the punk turned his gun on the teenager, who just stood there like a deer in headlight. _'Poor kid, he's probably terrified. I just hope the cops get here in time.'_

"Give me all your money!"

"Why is your face all weird?" the kid asked, calm as could be even while staring down the barrel of a handgun.

The would-be robber blink in a kind of shocked indignation at the question. "Wha-? You want to die, kid? Empty your pockets now or I start shooting!"

**_'IDIOT!'_ **

"I don't have any money. I gave it all to him," the kid responded simply, nodding his head in the direction of Yoshie.

**_'ASSHOLE!'_ **

"And that won't work on me anyway so you should probably just get out of here, you look way too weak to fight me," the kid continued, folding his arms across his chest.

'What is this kid doing?' Yoshie thought as he watched on in horror. 'He is going to get us both killed!'

"WEAK!" the punk shouted, enraged. "I'LL SHOW _YOU_ WEAK!"

_**BANG!** _

The gun went off again, point-blank at the kid's chest. He stumbled back a few feet but didn't fall; instead, to Yoshie's amazement, the kid's chest stretched around the bullet, pushing through and pulling the skin for almost a yard before springing back, firing the bullet back into the punk's leg.

The punk immediately collapsed with a screech of pain, clutching his wound and letting his gun skid across the floor.

"What a crybaby," the kid sighed, shaking his head before turning to Yoshie. "Hey, Gramps, you can come out now. It's safe."

Yoshie peaked out from over the counter, "Wha- what are you?"

He got a bright smile in returned. The kid hooked a finger into his mouth and stretched it out a foot away from his face, "My name is Monkey D. Luffy and I'm a rubber man!"

The wailing of sirens filled the air, causing Yoshie to sigh in relief. "Thank god, the cops are here!"

The kid, Luffy, frowned, "Cops? Are they like the Marines?"

"I...guess so?"

Luffy wrinkled his nose, " _Blah!_ I gotta go then, thanks for the meat, Gramps!"

And with that, he took off in an effortless, speedy dash, waving good-bye as he went.

* * *

Luffy surveyed the city underneath his perch on the high building he could find, trying to find something, anything, that looked familiar.

But there was nothing! Just a bunch of weird, tall buildings and speedy little boxes.

"This is so annoying!" he grumbled to himself. "All my friends went and got lost so now I have to-

**_"AHHHHHH!"_ **


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please keep in mind, I'm not great at writing fight scenes.

It had been a stupid move to run off and leave Togata-san -damn, _Lemillion-_ behind, Deku would be the first to admit that, bu the girl with the horn had been so scared, so petrified, that there was no way he could just leave her with that strange man, no more than he could believe that guy was really her father. 

“Stop right there!” he shouted, pointed a finger at the pair. 

They both turned, cautious joy breaking out over the little girl’s dirty face and annoyance shining in the man’s eyes; his grip on the girl’s arm tightened and she flinched. “Oh look, it the _hero_ ,” the masked man drawled darkly. “Do yourself a favor kid and run along; this doesn’t concern you.”

“You’re hurting that girl,” he snapped back. “As both a hero-in-training and a decent human being, that _makes_ it my concern!”

The girl, with a burst of courage and strength, ripped her arm from the man’s grasp and broke away, running straight for Deku, she tucked herself behind him with her little fingers clutching the back of his shirt. 

“Now, I’m going to take her to get some help,” Deku told the towering man who was looking at them both the way an animal looks at its prey; later on, he’d be proud of how steady and confident his voice sounded despite the chill creeping up his spine and into his lungs. “So get out of here if you know what’s good for you!”

The man chuckled, “You got guts, kid; I’ll give you that. Too bad they won’t do you any good!”

And, with that, he lunged forward at breakneck speed; Deku fell his eyes widen as he instinctive pulled a fist back, ready to punch with everything he had, and he heard the little girl start to scream. He closed his eyes.

**_CRUNCH!_ **

Deku’s eyes flew open and his jaw dropped at the sight before him. The man, who just a second ago had seemed so vicious and imposing, was now flat on his face, imbedded into the concrete in the center of a crater of shattered stone. On top of his back was a dark-haired teenager with a straw hat. He stared down at the man for a second, bounced up and down on the balls of his feet a few times, and then hopped off his perch, landing a few feet from Deku and his new charge. 

“Are you guys alright?” he asked. 

The teenager’s voice had a causal manner of speech, but not in a way that would indicate delinquency or ill-intent and the look in his eyes seemed to be genuine concern. Deku could only blink at him.

“Ahhh, y-yes. Th-thank you,” he stammered out; the girl didn’t say anything, instead tightening her grip on him and letting out a little whimper. “We s-should be going n-”

Before he even finished talking, the teenager whirled around; every muscle in his lean body tensing and his feet sliding apart like he was getting ready to enter a fighting stance. 

“Well, that was unexpected,” the masked man drawled, getting to his feet. “You’re a strong one, aren’t you kid?”

The teenager crossed his arms, “Yeah, I am. _Way_ stronger than you.”

“That is quite the claim,” the man chuckled. “I’ll tell you what, I’m in a hurry so why don’t you bring me that girl and I’ll make it worth your while. I’ll even put in a good word with my employers; if you’re as strong as you say then they may have use for you.”

The teen glanced back at them and, for a second, Deku was worried he’d take the man up on his offer, but then he turned back. “Nah, I don’t work for anyone.”

“What a shame.”

The man lunged again but the teen was prepared. Quicker than Deku’s eye could see, one of his arms turned black and shiny, like polished stone, and side-stepped the attack; He punched the man square in the gut, burying his fist in deep.

“ **_Oomph!_ **”

Their attacker doubled over, the wind completely knocked out of him. “Heh,” he wheezed, weakly gripping at his opponent’s wrist, “so you’re strong _and_ fast. Too bad it won’t help you.”

“Huh, what are you- **_OW!_ **”

The teenager jumped back and twisted, landing a powerful kick to the back of the man that sent him flying to the side of a nearby building, the brick wall smashing at the impact.

“What the hell did you do to me?!” he demanded, clutched his forearm with the other hand.

_‘What…’_

Deku’s eyes went wide at the sight; the teenager’s arm was now gray and crackled, like crumbling concrete. After a moment, it turned back to regular looking flesh but the now the tanned skin was bruised a clouded dark purple, like someone had repeatedly taken a hammer to it. 

“Never had that happen before,” the villain noted calmly as he extracted himself from the broken wall. “It’s too bad I can’t play around with you more but I’ve got places to be.”

With that, he put a hand on the wall behind himself. To Deku’s horror, the brick seemed to crumble before reshaping itself into a massive pillar that shot right at the teenager.

_‘He… he is just standing still! Move!’_

But he didn’t, the teenager remained still as a statue… frozen in shock. 

_‘I can’t let him die!’_

Deku charged forward, pushing the teen out of his way and punched the pillar with all his might. 

**_BOOM!_ **

The pillar exploded into a million tiny pieces of shrapnel, dust filling the air. 

“Wow, that was **_AWESOME_ **!” the teen cheered, giving Deku a friendly, open look. 

“Uh, thanks!” Deku replied with a confused smile as he tried to ignore the pain from his broken hand. _‘He’s not scared at all.’_

He continued, “Thanks for…”

Deku’s voiced trailed off as the ground beneath him began to rumble, ‘An earthquake?”

Then the ground dropped away and Deku started to fall.

Just for a second thought, then he felt some warm and strong wrap around his waist; the girl was pressed into him now too, screaming into Deku’s ear, and then they were flying up, up, and now they were above the buildings. 

“ **AHHHHHHHH…** . _Umpf!_ ”

“You can stop screaming now.”

Deku worked on keeping his stomach and heart in place as he stared up at the bemused face of the teenager. “Oh… sorry…”

“Don’t apologize.”

“Sorry…” Deku forced himself to sit up. “I mean, thank you for helping us. We might have been toast if not for you… Uh, wants your name?”

The teenager gave, “I’m Straw Hat Luffy! Nice to meet you!”


	4. Chapter 4

_ '...Straw Hat... Luffy?'  _

Deku blinked at the older teen in front of him, mind whirling as he went through his memory and tried to recall pro-hero who went by that name. He was also desperately trying to ignore the throbbing pain in his arm. 

As if Luffy could read him mind, he cocked his head to the side and glanced down at Deku's shattered limb. "That looks bad; you haven't had it long, have you? Your strength."

There was no pity or judgment in his words, just a simple observation. It was surprisingly nice. 

"Yes, actually; it's only been a few months." Deku forced an awkward smile, "Don't worry about me though; I've had plenty worse. And besides,-" he nodded towards Luffy's own bruised arm - "it looks like you got hurt too."

"Not too much," Luffy said, rubbing his forearm. "I was more surprised than anything, it did hurt though. Who was that guy?"

"I was hoping you'd know," Deku admitted, to which the older teen shook his head in the negatory. "I met him for the first time today when she" -he pointed to the little girl who'd curled into a small ball and was watching them both with wide, scared eyes that made Deku's heart hurt- "was trying to get away from him."

"Hmm," Luffy said, walking over to the girl. She froze and went quiet as he approached; her fear was still evident but she took on a kind of resigned despair, her eyes shut tight as she seemed to wait.

"Hi, what's your name?" 

The girl's eyes opened and she blinked up at Luffy in surprise. 

"Huh?" she squeaked.

Luffy plopped himself down, crossing his legs and sitting a few feet away from the girl. 

"What's your name?" he repeated. "I'm Monkey D. Luffy."

"That is a silly name," the girl said softly, the slightest hint of amusement in her small voice. "I... I'm Eri."

"Nice to meet you, Eri," Deku said as he dragged himself up and over to the pair, sitting beside Luffy. "I'm Deku. It's nice to meet you."

Eri gave a tiny nod as her eyes focused in on his arm. 

"Oh, don't you worry about that. It looks way worse than it is," he assured, before turning serious. "Eri, could you... could you tell us who that man was?"

Deku tried to keep his voice gentle and soft so as not to scare her but Eri went even paler than she already was and started scooting back from them.

"Nonono, don't be scared!" Deku attempted to calm the girl, reaching out to comfort her only for his wrist to be grabbed by Luffy. 

"You're afraid of him," the teen observed, "and you are worried that he'll come after us if we know too much. You're right... but helping you already made us targets so telling us what you know won't do any more harm. If anything, knowing more will help keep us safe."

"You don't have to tell us anything you don't want to though," Deku added quickly. "We just want to help you."

Eri looked shocked, eyes widening before narrowing as she played with one of the dirty bandages wrapped around her arm. She bit at her lip, "He... that man calls himself Overhaul and he's supposed to take care of me; that is what my grandfather said. But he hurts me and uses my blood to do... bad stuff, to hurt people."

"That's horrible!" Deku shouted, startling the girl 

Luffy gave Eri a strange look; it was like he was sizing her up. "How can your blood hurt people?"

Eri shifted anxiously, "It's my quirk-" out of the corner of his eye, Deku saw confusion flash across Luffy's face "I can... Well, let me show you."

She squinted her eyes shut and scrunched up her face in concentration; Deku watched in amazement as the little horn on Eri's forehead throbbed, growing in size as a wave of energy flowed over him and Luffy. There was a tingling in his hand and, when he glanced down, Deku saw that the broken and busted limb was now good as new. 

"Wow!" Luffy explained, holding up his own arm; the bruises having completely vanished. "That is so cool!"

_ 'Dangerous too,' _ Deku realized, doubting that this was as simple as a healing quirk.  _ 'I need help, this is way too big for me to handle on my own.' _

"Hey, Eri," he said, turning back to the girl. "Do you want to come and meet some hero friends of mine? I think they can help you."

Fearful anxiety flashed across the girl's face once more but she seemed to swallow it down and gave a strong little nod. "I... I want to stay with you."

Then she surprised him by cuddling into his side, causing Deku to give her an awkward hug. 

"Well, its time for me to be on my way," Luffy said, hopping to his feet. 

Deku was surprised, "What? You're not going to stay?"

"No. Why would I do that?"

"Because you're a hero?" 

A brand new one, Deku figured, given Luffy's age and the fact that he'd never heard of any 'Straw Hat Luffy' before. 

"Me, a hero? No way, not in a million years!" Luffy laughed. "Listen up, I helped you guys because that fight was unfair but I'm no hero. Heroes are great, don't get me wrong, but that's too many rules for me. So it was nice to meet you Broccoli-Guy and Horn-Girl but I got to go find my Nakama now."

And, with that, Luffy gave a wave and turned to take a running leap from the rooftop. 

"Wait!" Deku called out, causing the older teen to pause and look back. "If you're not a hero than what are you?"

Luffy gave a broad grin, "I'm a pirate, of course!"

And then he was gone.

* * *

"What do you think got stuck in there?" Ryo Nakamura asked as he and his co-worker, Takashi, peered into the depths of the jammed garbage truck.

"Who the hell knows? Car part maybe?" Takashi replied, scratching his head. "You didn't think to check the dumpster first?"

Ryo snorted, "No, why would I-"

**_ SCREECH! _ **

The compressor of the garbage truck was ripped open and, as the two men scrambled away, a horrifying figure emerged from the bowels of the vehicle. 

Jumping to the ground, it looked around and declared,

"I... got lost."


	5. Chapter Five

"Well, from what I can get out of her, our new guest thinks that she is six-years-old and that is just plain worrying," Recovery Girl said, stepping out of the infirmary and closing the door behind her so they wouldn't be overheard. 

Deku tore his eyes from where he was watching Eri sleep on a hospital bed through the tinted window of the infirmary. "What?" he asked. "Why?"

"Aside from the obvious worry of the girl not being sure of her own age? Because she is significantly underweight for her age," the old woman explained grimly. "That, combined with the bruises, the marks from hypodermic needles, and the way she scarfed down seven consecutive cups of jello, tells me you pulled that poor girl out a horrible situation."

_ 'I could have told you that,'  _ Deku thought with uncharacteristic sarcasm, keeping his eyes on the little frame curled up under thin hospital covers. "Is she going to be okay?"

"For now, Eri needs a shower, a change of clothes, and a nice, long rest. But, aside from that? Her injuries will heal quickly enough and none of serious enough to need immediate healing. Given enough time, she'll put on the weight she needs," Recovery Girl offered with cautious optimism before her small, wrinkled face fell once more. "I’m more worried about her mind and heart though. The poor thing was petrified and jumped at every shadow. I went to give her a mild sedative so she could sleep easier and she burst into tears as soon as I pulled out the syringe. It nearly broke my old heart."

The crying had nearly caused Deku to break down the infirmary door in a panic to get to Eri. 

"What's going to happen to her?" he asked, terrified she'd be locked away again. That was the long-standing rumor of what happened to little kids with out-of-control quirks -the story was that they'd be taken to special hospitals, never to be seen again. 

_ 'I'll never let that happen,'  _ Deku decided right then and there. _ 'I promised to protect Eri and I will, no matter what.' _

"First thing is first, we need to find out who she is," Eraser Head said. "Eri hasn't told us much so Sir Nighteye is looking into tracking down a birth certificate based on her age and we can check any possible matches against Eri's footprints but, until then, she'll be staying here." 

"You're going to send Eri back to her family?!" Deku shouted, horrified by the thought. "She told me that her grandfather let people hurt her; she can't go back to them!"

His teacher's dark eyes fix him with a firm look, "We don't know the whole story yet; it is too soon to make those kinds of decisions. Besides, if not else, finding out who Eri is will help us track down this grandfather of hers and, hopefully, learn more about the villain you mentioned."

"Overhaul." A shiver went down Deku's spine as the villain's image popped into his head, his face obscured by that strange plague doctor-esc mask and his cold eyes that reminded Deku of the inky black eyes of a shark.

Eraser Head nodded, "Yes, and, speaking of him, we need to talk. Follow me."

Deku hesitated, his eyes flickering towards the infirmary door. Could he really just leave...

"She'll be asleep for at least three hours," Recovery Girl comforted, patting his hand. "You'll have plenty of time to get back, Sweetie."

"O-okay," he said uncertainly, still unhappy about leaving his new-found charge behind even as he followed his teacher.

* * *

"First off, I want to compliment you on your exceptional bravery, Mr. Midoriya," Principal Nezu praised. "I know that it can't have been easy to stand up against a villain on your own."

"I've said it before and I'll say it again, Young Midoriya here has a natural aptitude for heroism that I've rarely seen," All Might declared proudly, puffing out his chest and slapping Deku on the back. "He puts other's needs before his own and desires to protect innocents above all else!"

Deku turned bright red at the praise, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. "To tell you the truth, I wasn't really thinking about-"

"That's right, you  _ weren't  _ thinking," Eraser Head cut him off. "You ran off into a situation you knew nothing about, leaving Togata behind, and could have easily gotten yourself killed! You should have called for back-up and-"

"You didn't see Eri," Deku shouted, surprised by his own boldness; him, snapping at a teacher? Kacchan would have a field day. "You didn't see how  _ terrified  _ she was! She asked  _ me  _ for help and I couldn't let her down! So I did what I had too and I  _ won't  _ apologize for that!"

The three adults in the room reeled back in shock at his outburst. 

"You're not in trouble," Principal Nezu reassured adamantly. "You did a good thing, Mr. Midoryia, a very good, very  _ heroic  _ thing and you should take pride in that. What I think Eraser Head is trying to say is that we'd all prefer if you didn't make a habit of rushing into danger, alright?"

'A little too late for that,' he thought with a nervous chuckle. "Yeah, sure."

"Alright, that settled," Eraser Head grumbled. "Now we just need to figure out what to do about that villain and the kid who saved the two of you. What can you tell us about him?"

"Errr..." It was illegal to fight crime without a pro-hero license, everyone knew that, and Deku didn't want to see Luffy end up in prison for helping him and Eri. It just wouldn't be  _ fair _ . 

All Might sensed his hesitation. "Your new friend isn't in trouble; we're not interested in arrest someone for helping protect a kid and a hero trainee, after all."

"But we do want to talk to him," Eraser Head added. "Both because he might be in danger and because he might no more about the villain."

"His name is Monkey D. Luffy," Deku said, "but he didn't know anything about Overhaul either."

"Well, at least he has an easy name to track down," the older man grumbled. "Could you tell what his quirk was?"

"It was a little hard to say," Deku admitted, at little ashamed that he hadn't thought to ask. "He was strong and fast and he could strength like rubber; he also turned his skin into this dark stony stuff."

"I've never heard of that combo of abilities," Eraser Head acknowledged, "but if he was able to take on a villain like what you described than he was probably trained somewhere. Do you know anything else?"

"Yeah... he said he was pirate."


	6. Chapter Six

_ 'I swear, I stop paying attention for one minute and my idiot captain goes get lost,'  _ Zoro mentally grumbled as he wondered dark halls.  _ 'Why is the Sea-Witch never around when you need her?' _

The sound of voices tickled the swordsman's ears, causing him to turned a corner and peeked around the ajar door into a room where three men were conversing. Zoro took in the figures with something resembling passive interest. One was wearing a beak mask, one was dressed like an actual man-bird, and the last had a dismember hand clamped over his face.

To many, this trio would have seemed incredibly strange but the swordsman had seen far,  _ far  _ weirder in the past few years so this barely phased him.

"Now then, about what we discussed on the phone the other day. Were you for real?" The bird-man asked, thumbing his way through a stack of bills. "That, depending on the conditions, you'll side with us?"

"That's a rather self-serving way of putting it," the blue-haired man replied, voice raspy and muffled behind the hand fixed to his face as he thumped one foot up on the coffee table in front of him. "You're the ones who want to latch onto the League's name. But we also happen to be looking for ways to expand our influence so our motives happen to align."

"Put your foot down," Beaky growled. "You're dirtying the table up."

"I believe that should be 'could you please put your foot down?' Young Boss," was the smug reply he got in response. "If anything, you should be bowing your head in respect... after all,  _ you  _ were the one who lost the girl to an amateur hero no less, Why, the head of Shie Hassaikai must be  _ very  _ disappointed in you."

The anger radiating off of the masked man would have been palpable even without Observation Haki. "This coming from the man whose organization couldn't handle a bunch of school children?  _ Hardly _ a ringing endorsement of your capabilities."

Birdy cut in to defuse the tension. "That isn't important now. We need to focus on getting Eri back before the heroes can use her against us."

"They probably took her to the U.A. High School for safe-keeping," Facey grunted. 

Mask gave a stiff nod, "Which means either breaking into the school get her back or waiting until she leaves."

"How can you be sure she'll do that?" 

"Little kids like to wander and explore; she'll be no exception," he grunted. "But we as will need to deal with the new hero on the scenes; I looked through our information and we have nothing on this kid in the straw hat."

That got Zoro's attention. _ 'Straw hat? What in the hell has Luffy been up to?' _

"He's strong and fast and stretchy," Handy grunted, "Nothing that can't be handled."

That settled it. Zoro pushed the door open, "Hey, I'm looking for the guy in the Straw Hat. Where did you see him?"

Rudely, all he got was a trio of dumbfounded looks... well, sort of, Handy just turned towards him. 

"What, you're not going to answer?" he grunted, crossing his arms. "Fine, I'll just go find himself."

And with that, he turned on his heel and walked off down through the halls. _ 'Luffy just had to go and get himself lost in the land full of the most unhelpful people imaginable, didn't he?' _

"Hey!"

Zoro turned to see all of the men had followed after him, "Huh? What do you want?"

"What are you doing here?" Beaky demanded. "How did you get in? Who do you work for?"

_ 'Work for? Weirdos,' _ he thought. "I'm just trying to find my captain... and I just used the side door, it wasn't even locked. Well, the lock was pathetic anyway. Why?"

.

.

.

"You really should have someone watching out for that," Handy offered Beaky, who just glared before turning back to Zoro. 

"Well, impressive as it is that you've managed to infiltrate our headquarters, I'm afraid you can't be allowed to tell anyone about it," the threat was obvious as Beaky stalked forward, eyes dark and angry. 

Zoro cocked an eyebrow and reached for his blades. 

* * *

" **WHAT** ... the  **HELL** ... was **_THAT?_ ** " Mimic asked, pushing his way out from under the rubble, rubbing the top of his costume head. "That guy was a monster! I've never seen anything like that! I thought only All Might was that strong!"

Overhaul, ignoring the shooting pain in his ribs and left leg, disassembled the rumble crushing him and sat up. "He could have killed us, he must have some sort of ulterior motive for leaving us alive." 

There was an audible crumbling sound as Shigaraki disintegrate the think chunk of wall pinning him to the floor. 

"Well," he wheezed, "that is hardly a ringing endorsement of your capabilities as an organization, is it? That some sort of monster just waltzed into your headquarters defeated you both like that."

"He took you out too," Overhaul retorted. "And let's handle one problem at a time, starting with the girl."

* * *

"Uh, kid? You can't sleep up there?"

Luffy peered down from the tree branch he perched himself on for a nap at the confused man with a blue hat. "Why not?"

"Errr... you're not supposed to loiter in the park," Hat-Guy replied. "It's against the law."

_ 'Laws, yuck,'  _ Luffy wrinkled his nose. "Loitering, what's that?"

He got another confused look but the man just sighed, "Look, kid, do you want me to call your parents? Come on, what is your mother's phone number?"

"Nah, I'm good," Luffy shook his head. "Besides, I don't have a mother -Ace and Sabo said Gramps grew me in a cabbage patch."

"Right... So should I call-"

"Hey, Luffy, I finally found you!" 

A broad smile split across the future pirate king's face as his oldest strolled up. 

"Zoro, where have you been?" Luffy cheered, hopping down from the tree and cocking his head to the side as he took the gray powder that covered the swordsman from head-to-toe. "And what have you been up to?"

"Looking for you, got into a fight with some weirdo in a stupid mask."

"Really? Me too!"

"Excuse me, Sir, but... are those real swords?" Hat-Guy asked, pointing at Zoro's waist. 

"Yeah."

.

.

.

"I don't get paid enough to deal with this," he sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Just please don't stab anyone."

Then he just walked away as Luffy and Zoro watched. "Weird guy," Zoro shrugged, turning to his captain. "So why did you fight the man with the mask?"

"Saw him trying to hurt a kid and a little girl; the fight wasn't fair so I stepped in."

Simple and straightforward, just like Luffy. 

"Yeah, he was talking with two other guys about kidnapping a little girl," Zoro noted. "I think they called her... Eri?"

Luffy's face fell into a frown and he turned, walking away. 

"Where are you going?"

"Well, I've got to help my new friends; it wouldn’t be fair to make them fight Mask-Guy by themselves."

Simple and straightforward, just like Luffy. 

  
  



	7. Chapter Seven

_ "Don't worry, it won't hurt.' _

_ It was a lie; it  _ **_ always  _ ** _ was a lie.  _

_ No matter what the faceless doctors with their white masks claimed time and time again, the needles  _ **_ always  _ ** _ hurt. Just like the stethoscopes that they pressed to her heart and the ointment that they rubbed into the skin was  _ **_ always  _ ** _ cold. Just like how chair's restraints were  _ **_ always  _ ** _ tight and the lights above the table were  _ **_ always  _ ** _ too bright.  _

_ Just like how she was always tired after the 'procedures.'  _

_ Strange as it sounds, Eri always hated the afterward most of all. She'd be tired and listless, her arms and legs would ache. The doctors would pull out the tubes and she'd feel them tug against the inside of her skin. They'd bandage her -usually without much care- and give her a bottle of juice -apple was her favorite, Eri typically got that every fifth day- before being dragged back to the cot in her room. All while Overhaul lurked nearby and watched.  _

_ Eri couldn't see if he was smiling while she was hurt but she was sure the man liked seeing her in pain. It was the way Overhaul's eyes always seemed to shine when she screamed which made her sure.  _

_ Eri didn't scream anymore, no matter how much it hurt; she refused to give them the satisfaction.  _

_ "You've been a very bad girl," Overhaul hissed, grabbing her by the chin and force Eri to look up at him. "I feed you, I give you toys, and I make sure no one else hurts you but you still insist on being a bad girl. You ran from me again and now people are going to die, they are going to die and it will be your fault again. Do you understand? I'm going to kill Deku and Luffy and it is going to be your fault because you are a very bad girl." _

_ "No," she whimpered. Eri was free now, Overhaul couldn't get to her. He couldn't use her blood to hurt anyone anymore. "They're strong, they beat you before and they can beat you again. They wouldn't let you hurt me again, not me or anyone else." _

_ Fingernails dug into her chin until they drew blood, "You want to believe that, don't you? Oh, but you know it's not true. You'll get them killed because that is what always happens. I warned you what would happen if you ran and now people will die because of you, just like your father." _

_ The was a sharp, burning paining and Eri's arms were sliced open, her blood -the thing that made her 'precious' to everyone in the first place- began pouring out everywhere. _

_ "You're cursed, you wicked little girl, and you allow will be." _

Eri bolted up in bed and barely managed to choke back her scream. Grabbing at her clammy arms and wrist, she reassured herself that there was no blood. Next, she rubbed her own face -no blood, no nail marks, no scratches or scabs. Only tears. 

It felt like a long time before Eri's heartbeat and breathing returned to normal. In a frantic attempt to calm herself, the little girl looked around the infirmary and marked off a mental checklist of what was around her.

Red plastic cup with little doggies? Check.

Blue and green quilt? Check.

The coloring book and a pack of crayons? Check.

Blue checkered curtains? Check.

Horn? Check.

Little stuffed pink bunny? Check.

With one final long exhale, Eri was finally able to calm down. Overhaul didn't have her, she was safe. She was at Deku's school where it was warm and no one poked her with needles. Eri could have as much food as she asked for. She could have long bubble baths. The nice lady who worked there sometimes gave her chocolate or other sweets after she weighed Eri and took her temperature. Sometimes Deku would stop by after his classes to spend time with her, even bringing along little bottles of apple juice as a treat. 

Being here was so nice... and there was no way Eri could stay here. 

Deku and everyone else had been so kind to her, it wasn't fair that they suffer for Eri's selfishness. She had to leave; Eri had to get far away before Overhaul found her and hurt everyone else as a punishment. 

_ 'But how?' _

Nice Nurse Lady had finally declared Eri healthy enough to be left alone with some snacks, a television, and something to draw with but she hadn’t exactly been allowed to wander the halls alone. Not that she had wanted too either. 

**_ Creek. _ **

The sound of the door opening caused Eri to jump a little as the strange, tired-looking man with a scarf came in.

"Oh, so you're awake."

Eri just looked down at her lap and shrugged.

"Do you think you could answer some more questions?"

Eri shook her head. 

The man let out a little sigh but just continued, "Do you want some breakfast?"

Eri nodded and, as the man started to leave, her eyes drifted to the window that let in the early morning light. 

"C... could you please open that window?" she asked, almost angry at how soft and meek her voice sounded.

The man gave her a questioning look so Eri swallowed hard and continued, "It... it would be nice to get some fresh air."

That got her a softer, more sympathetic look and, without a word, the man popped the window open letting a warm breeze fill the room and left to get Eri something to eat.

_ 'Thank you,' _ Eri though.  _ 'Thank you, everyone.' _


	8. Chapter Eight: OMAKE

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I don't really have the steam to write a real chapter but hopefully some of you will find this amusing.

** OKAME **

Deku looked up at the four figures hovering above his bed with abject and unadulterated horror; the fear outweighing ever the pain throbbing through his entire body. 

"His body is whole on the inside and mush on the inside," Luffy commented, poking Deku's busted arm with his the tip of his pinky finger. Under most circumstances, this would be horribly painful but, at this point, everything hurt so hero-in-training didn't even feel it. "He's a human spring roll."

"Hmmm, this young man's control over his abilities is quite lacking," the beautiful, dark-haired woman commented warmly, cocking her head to the side."I wonder if punching something hard enough would backfire and cause him to explode."

And, with that, the young man's heart very nearly lept right out of his chest. _ 'I wonder if I can use my tongue to scootch my way off this hospital bed?' _

"Seriously, Robin, why don't you just hold a gun to the poor kid's head?" The dark-skinned man with an abnormally long nose commented before giving Deku a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, kid, we'll get you all patched up and fix that arm. Right, Law?"

"Mmmhmmm," the scary tattooed man nodded, pulling on a mask and pair of latex gloves. "It's been a while since I've been able to do surgery the old-fashion, should be fun."

"Really?" Robin asked. "How do you stay in-practice then?"

"By breaking into hospitals and taking the place of one of the surgeons," Law shrugged. "Civilian hospitals are easier but I prefer to do it in marine hospitals; they have the best equipment and there are always people who need to be operated on. Plus, if something goes wrong, I don't have to feel bad about it. Now" his dark eyes turned to the young teen and he picked up a scalp, "let's get started."

Deku squeaked.

* * *

Aizawa, Principal Nezu, and All Might all gathered around the two-way mirror, staring dumbfounded into the small interview room where one of the Academy's counselors did there best to break through the rubbery young vigilante's the deep psychosis involving pirates and mythical treasures. 

"...and that's why there's no such thing as a 'One Piece'," the exasperated counselor explained.

"No," the young man snapped back, having started to grown annoyed with the questioning. "One Piece _does_ exist and I'm going to find it, then I will be King of the Pirates! And if you say it isn't real again I'll hit you."

Usually, the threat of violence would be cause for concern but the young man hadn't shown any signs of being dangerous yet so, while they'd be keeping an eye on him, not alarms were raised just yet. 

The counselor looked like he was ready to rip out his hair but forced the in-coming nervous breakdown away and sighed. "Okay, how about we take this from the top? Can you please state your name?"

"My name is Monkey D. Luffy and I'm going to be King of the Pirates!"

Aizawa eyed the scene, "How long have we been going at this?"

Principal Nezu glanced down at his watch, "Three hours."

"Shouldn't we stop that?" All Might asked nervously, pointing to the counselor attempting to strangle his would-be patient. 

* * *

"So this was the League of Villains, huh?" Sanji asked, lightly kicking one of the dozen of fallen foes the Straw Hat and allies had taken on.

"Pretty pathetic if you asked me," Zoro gruntled, taking a swing of a bottle he'd found in some random cabinet... which, upon closer examination, might actually be rubbing alcohol. "Not a single one of them landed a hit on me. I didn't even bleed a little; Can I even call this a proper battle?"

"Not getting hurt is a good thing, you idiot!" Chopper shrieked. 

"A touch underwhelming, I do agree but I must admit that I'm fond of the name," Robin giggled from her perch on Franky's -who was far to busy pawing through the scraps of interesting tech laying around to pay attention- shoulder. "It is quite classy."

"Classy? They  _ literally  _ advertise that they're the bad guys! It's as subtle as a brick to the face," Usopp complained, playing with the string of his slingshot.

"Oooooh! Ace, Sabo, and I used to play a game like that," Luffy chimed in excitedly, looking up from where he was putting unconscious villains into amusing posses. "They throw bricks or big rocks at me then try to hit them with their pipes when it would bounce back!"

"Of course you did, Luffy," Usopp said, barely paying attention to his captain. "But, uh, what are we supposed to  _ do  _ with all of these guys?"

"All Might-ya and the others are going to be by later to collect them," Law gruntled. Then, mostly to himself, he wondered out loud as he eyed the many interesting looking medicinal contractions laying around, "I wonder if they need to be completely intact?"

"Perhaps you should use this chance to collect some appendixes," Robin suggested. "With enough, you might even be able to learn what they do."

"Robin, don’t suggest such scary things!" Usopp snapped. "Especially since Law is scary enough to do it!"

"So, a question as been rattling around in this empty skull of mine: If we defeated these villains, does that make  _ us  _ heroes?" Brook asked, heating up some water for tea using a laboratory Bunson burner.

Just about everyone cringed at the question. Pirates as heroes? No way! They could be heroic, sure, if the situation demanded it but that was different. 

"Heroes would have to turn over all this money," Nami, who'd made quick work of finding several hidden safes and emptying the pockets of all their knocked out foes, "and they pay taxes on their money. I plan on keeping  _ all  _ this money for myself."

"You know you can't spend that back home, right?" Zoro asked, immediately causing a fight with Sanji who accused him of calling his dear Nami stupid. 

The navigator shrugged, "Sure, but I can use it buy things I can sell for belli once we get back."

"You should use this time to gather as much information possible on these foes, Nami, then you can sell it to the heroes for a heft sum," Robin said, thinking back to her time as an assassin. "Experience has told me that secrets are worth more than their weight in gold.”

Jim, League of Villains intern, put all of his energy into saying as still and lifeless as possible. These people were clearly insane and he felt his grip on reality slipping every moment he had to listen to them.


	9. Chapter Nine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long. Thankfully, its pretty long.

Later that day -and for several days after that- witnesses would report that, right up until all the fighting started and the chaos broke out, nothing at all seemed strange in the bustling shopping center. The weather was perfect, sunny but with a light breeze keeping things cool, and many people were out on the streets. Perhaps the pleasant day was the reason so many people were out and about; mothers were doing their daily shopping, businessmen on their lunch hour, unruly teenagers skipping school, and many others from all walks of life. 

None of whom suspected they were supposed to witness something incredible. 

The masses of people made it easy for Eri, the small, quiet child she was, to go unnoticed as she slipped around the legs of shoppers and into a small clothing store, her eyes fixed on a cute pair of girl's tiny tennis shoes. 

Guilt bubbled in the pit of Eri's stomach for what she had already done and what she was about to do. It wasn't as if she  _ liked  _ stealing. No, it made her feel awful! Stealing was wrong, that was something Eri remembered her mother drilling into her head.

_ 'But, then again, she abandoned me and let me be hurt, so why should I take anything Mama said seriously?' _ Eri asked herself, more angry and bitter than she'd have liked. _ 'I'm not being greedy, I'm just... taking what I need, nothing more than that. I'm just taking what I need to survive and to escape.' _

Eri's plan was simple; she would steal some new clothes and some food and then she'd sneak onto a bus. She'd go into the mountains and hide; she'd live with the animals like the kids in her storybooks. Overhaul and her grandfather and those mean, awful doctors would never find her again. Maybe, if Eri was lucky, the Shie Hassaikai would forget about her after a few years. Maybe they'd think she was dead or maybe they'd believe the heroes had hidden her away somewhere? Either way, they wouldn't look for her. 

Sure, it wasn't a great plan but it was the only one Eri had... even if she did really want to do it. 

If she was completely honest with herself, Eri didn't want to leave Deku and the nice people at his school. They'd been the first people to make her feel safe and happy in a long, long time, them and Luffy. 

_ 'And that is why I couldn't stay,'  _ she reminded herself.  _ 'I couldn't let them get hurt because of me.' _

So Eri ran and, if she had to, she stole stuff from stores. Never any more than she needed to though, Eri had spent the better part of the day searching through the Lost & Found bins of different buildings for stuff. So far she'd found a fluffy knitted cap to cover her horn, a comfy sweatshirt to cover the shirt and shorts Deku's school had given her, a couple of different pieces of clothing that looked like they'd fit, and a backpack to store it in. 

But she still needed shoes, _real_ shoes. Eri had the pair of hard-soled slippers that the Nice Nurse Lady had given her and a pair of too-big mixed-matched flip-flops that she'd fished out of a Lost & Found bin; she'd even manage to snag a pack of frilly socks from a different store. So shoes were the only thing left.

Cautiously, Eri eyed the man behind the counter; he was busy helping a woman try on a pair of high heels. No one else in the store was paying attention to her either; the mother in the corner was searching through a pile of folded shirts and the dad in the center of the shop was too busy trying to wrangle his three young kids.

No one was paying attention to her so Eri softly crept forward and picked up the shoes, turning them over in her hands like she was looking at them, then, after another quick glance again, ducked her head and started towards the entrance of the store. 

One foot was just over the doorway when she heard an angry shout of, "HEY, KID!"

Honestly, Eri wasn't even sure she was the one being shouted out but she ran anyway. Quick as she could, the little girl darted through the crowds of people so anyone trying to pressure her would be lost in the confusion. She didn't know how far she ran but, eventually, Eri turned a corner into an alleyway and collapsed against the brick wall of an alleyway. 

Panting hard, Eri clutched the shoes to her chest and smiled. That smile came crashing down and ice flooded her veins as a chillingly familiar voice came from the entrance of the alleyway.

"Looks like you're not so sweet after all, huh Eri?" Overhaul chuckled as he closed in on her. 

* * *

"What do you  ** mean  ** she is gone?" Deku snapped, almost surprised by his own anger. But despite his typical demeanor of a shy, polite, and observant young man, he was furious with the adults around him. Eri was his responsibility, he promised to take care of her! "Eri is a little girl! How in the world did she get out of the grounds without being noticed?"

Eraser Head looked ready to scowl him for his importance but a quick, sharp look from Principal Nezu had him biting his tongue. The pro-hero rubbed the back of his head, averting his dry eyes from Deku, "From the security cameras, it looks like she climbed out of an open window in the infirmary and then slipped through the bars of the front gate. Our security measures mostly revolve around keeping people out, not in."

"Maybe we should do something about that..." Principal Nezu mused, stroking his chin.

"Maybe you should," Deku agreed, still annoyed, "but that won't help the fact that Eri is missing  **_ now! _ ** "

All Might put his hand on Deku's shoulder and gave it a comforting squeeze. "I know you are upset, young Midoriya, but rest assured that we are doing everything possible to find little Eri. Chances are she just got overwhelmed and bolted; the poor girl has been through so much, she may just be hiding nearby."

"Nah, I would have sensed her if she was nearby."

"Oh, really? How interesting," Principal Nezu commented.

.

.

.

" ** WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE? ** " Deku, Eraser Head, Principal Nezu, and All Might screamed in unison as they realized that they'd been unknowingly joined by two figures.

Deku blinked and calmed down when he recognized one of the individuals. 

"Luffy-san!" he smiled, happy to see the lanky, scared figure of the old teen. "I'm glad you're alright!"

Then the confusion returned as his eyes slid to the other person. Unlike the warm, welcoming smile Luffy wore, this individual's face was blank and he watched them with a calculated look like he was seizing them all up. "Uh, who is this? ...And why is he carrying around a bunch of swords?"

"Oh, hey Broccoli-Guy!" Luffy-san chirped warmly. "This is one of my Nakama, Zoro. Don't let his mean face scare you, he is a big idiot on the inside!"

** Whack! **

"You're one to talk, moron," the swordsman grumbled, bopping his friend over the head with a punch. 

"I'm sorry," the lanky teen pouted, looking despondent. But then his eyes went to Principal Nezo and a bright smile split over his face as Luffy scrambled over to the head of U.A. High School. " _ Wooooowwww _ , you're cool! How'd you get that scar? What kind of Devil Fruit did you eat? Do you po-"

"Alright, enough with the chit-chat," Eraser Head snapped, having snapped out of his surprised state. "How'd you two get in here?"

Silently, both Luffy and the other guy, Zoro, pointed to the open window, both wearing expressions like that thought that was obvious and that Eraser Head was an idiot. 

Deku's homeroom teacher was clearly unimpressed. 

"I _**mean**_ , how did you two get on the grounds?" he demanded angrily, completely ignoring All Might's attempts to pacify him. "We have security measures in place to keep people out!"

"Oh, is that what those were?" Zoro asked, speaking for the first time. "Yeah, you're going to need to replace those 'security measures' of yours."

A very amused Principal Nezo piped up, "Mr. Midoriya, I assume this young man in the straw hat is the same one who assisted you and little Eri?"

"Yes, this is him," Deku replied.

At the same time, Luffy spoke up. "Oh, right! That is why we're here! Where is Horn-girl? I want to see here, make sure she is safe."

Silence, heavy and uncomfortable. 

"Eri is gone," Deku admitted quietly, all the cheer from meeting Luffy again draining from his body. "She ran away from the school and we don't know where she is."

The rapid change in Luffy's demeanor was... fascinating to witness. The smile fell from his face, turning into a thoughtful frown, and his brows drew together tightly. The muscles in his lanky body going tight, the older teen set his jaw and nodded, "That's what I was worried about."

Then he turned to his friend. "Let's go, we've got to find her before the weirdo in the mask and his friends do."

The green-haired man gave a curt nod and both started towards the window again before Eraser Head stopped them.

"Where do you think you two are going?"

Luffy glanced back over his shoulder, "To get Eri, duh."

"You can't just-"

"I want to go too!" Deku cut in, to the surprise of everyone. Still, he continued, "I need to go find her! Eri is my responsibility! I promised her that she'd be safe!"

All Might squeezed his shoulder once more, eyes full of warm sympathy, "I understand where you are coming from, Young Midoriya, and I admire your resolve but if little Eri is in danger then this is a fight for the adults. You and your friends have been proven yourself capable of holding your own in dire situations but I don't want to see you get hurt."

A pang of guilt hit Deku hard and his shoulders slumped, "But Luffy-san has already beat Overhaul once, he can do it again."

"Which is certainly quite impressive," Principal Nezu agreed with a nod, "and I'm sure this young man can provide us with vital information-"

"-but it doesn't change the fact that none of you are government licensed heroes," Eraser Head finished before nodding toward Luffy and Zoro. "Especially not these two."

Deku opened his mouth to keep arguing but Luffy snorted.

"Heroes?" he scoffed. "We're not heroes."

"And we definitely don't need the government's permission to do anything," his swordsman friend sneered. 

And with the lapse of stunned silence created by their words, Luffy spun on his heel, grabbed ahold of the window frame, and stretched backward like a human slingshot with Zoro bracketed in between his arm, a look of resigned dread on his face. Luffy tilted his head backward, far too much for an ordinary human, and grinned at Deku. 

"Do what you've got to," he said simply. 

And then, “ ** GOMU GOMU NO... ROCKET! ** "

Almost instinctively, Deku lunged forward and wrapped his arms around Luffy's neck, eyes shut as tight as possible. His stomach dropped as he was flung forward, air rushing through his hair and the floor vanished from beneath his feet. 

_ 'I'm coming Eri! Please be okay!' _

* * *

The gloved hand on the back of Eri's neck was big enough to wrap completely around her throat, somehow burning and ice cold all at once. 

"Now, be a good girl and don't make a fuss. Do that and no one has to get hurt," Overhaul hissed, low and sickly sweet. "Do that and we can pretend this little bout of disobedience never happened. No punishment, no nothing; everything can go back to the way it was before. Doesn't that sound nice?" 

The bruising grip on the back of her neck tightened even more and Eri whimpered in pain. She knew it was a lie; Overhaul liked hurting her too much for it to be anything else. But even if it wasn't, even if he was telling the truth, it would still mean going back to the life of a human test subject. 

"I-"

" ** EEERRRIII! WE'RE HERE TO GET YOU! ** "

The little girl gasped, her eyes going wide as, over the rooftops, came the loud voice and figure of Monkey D. Luffy. 

The crowded streets froze and eyes turned upwards as civilians tracked the descending form until... **_BAM!_** It crashed down onto the pavement, a sizable crater forming in the street, and the Future King of the Pirates stood tall to look Overhaul dead in the eye. 

His two friends, however, were face down in the dirt with the wind knocked completely out of them. But that was neither here nor there. 

"Luffy," Eri gasped, a warm bud of hope blooming in her chest. Then her eyes caught the bushy green mop of hair of one of the other figures and a smile grew on her face. "Deku, you came too!"

"Of course," Luffy grinned. "I also come for my friends when they need me."

Eri giggled...only for that to be cut off when Overhaul squeezed down again, cutting off her air and causing her to choke. 

"Well... the boy in the straw hat, it's good to see you again," Overhaul drawled. "But I'm afraid I'll be taking my young charge home now. I'll have to deal with you later."

Luffy's face went cold and serious as Deku and Zoro got up, their bodies tense and ready for a fight. 

"And you think I'm just going to let you do that?" he asked flatly.

"Of course," the villain rasped, "with all of these civilians in danger-" he raised an arm to gesture to the people who stood around them gawking "-what else can a hero like you do?"

The pirate captain's uncharacteristic frown deepened. "You're right about one thing, all of the people need to  ** GET OUT OF HERE! ** "

A ripple of energy emulated from the young man through the crowds of on-lookers, sending shivers up their spines and causing them to turn tail to run, effectively clearing the area.

By his side, Zoro gave a low chuckle, "That is one use for Conqueror's Haki, I suppose. I'll leave this one to you, for now, Captain."

Luffy gave a low hum and kept his eyes trained on his enemy. "That is one problem out of the way; now it's your turn."

He looked to Eri and asked, "Hey, Eri, do you want to go with this guy?"

Tears filled the little girl's eyes and her face turned red but, after a moment, Eri took in a deep breath and shouted, " ** NO ** ! No, I  _ hate  _ him! I want to stay with Deku! I want to be safe! I want to be happy! Please, don't let him take me!"

With a wild grin, the Future Pirate King nodded. "That's all I needed to hear!"

Quick as a whip, he charged forward, and, faster than the eye could see, he stretched an arm out and grabbed Eri by the front of her shirt. With a hard tug, Luffy was easily able to pull the girl away from her capture and toss her over his shoulder towards Deku, yell out a quick, "Keep her safe, Broccoli-guy!"

Then, using his momentum, Luffy coated his leg in khaki -remembering the guy's weird mystery power- and landed a vicious kick to the masked man's side, sending him sprawling. 

"I hope that wasn't it," Zoro grumbled. "My blades are getting dull; I was hoping this guy would at least put up a little bit of a struggle."

As an answer, Overhaul pulled himself to his feet; it took him a moment, needing to pause and hack up some blood from the force of the kick. But he got up, all the same, glaring at the stretchy teenager all the way.

Then he laughed. 

"You are strong, there is no denying that," he admitted, "but are you strong enough to fight many while still protecting the girl. After all, there are only three of you."

"What are you talking about?" Deku demanded, clutching Eri close to his body and folding himself around her protectively. "What is going on?"

"Hey, Luffy, do you feel that?" Zoro asked, thumbing at the hilt of Shusui. Observation Haki was not his specialty, that was the damned Love Cook's job, but the buzzing at the base of his skull still told him that something was coming. 

Luffy nodded, "Yeah, something is coming."

Deku blink at both of them, "What? What do you-"

Then the cold, sickening feeling of dread filled his stomach, leaving a sour taste in his mouth as dark portals of black energy began opening all around the small group. Swallowing hard, Deku pulled Eri even tighter towards him as watch dozens of villains emerge from the shadowy portal. Trying to keep a cool head, as all good heroes do, Deku tried to take stock of who'd they be up against. 

His eyes narrowed in on one particular, unpleasantly familiar figure -Tomura Shigaraki.

"This is bad," he said grimly, clenching his fists. "There are a lot of dangerous villains here, especially-" he nodded towards Shigaraki, "-that one there. Whatever you do, don't let him touch you."

"I've seen him before too, he was scheming with Beaky over there and some weird bird thing," Zoro grunted. "Still, he doesn't seem all that tough. None of them do."

Luffy gave a low hum and sharp nod, "Maybe, but fighting all of them would be ** ANNOYING! ** " 

There was another ripple of that raw, teeth-raising energy but this time it was stronger, much stronger, and harsher. Scarier. Deku shivered in the face of it; even if he could the force of the power wasn't directed at him, it still felt as if some sort of ghost had reached its icy hand inside his chest and squeezed his heart. 

But what he felt was nothing in comparison to the villains closing in on their little group experienced. Deku didn't know what was happening but the look of complete and utter shock that passed over most of their faces was almost indescribable. 

Then they fainted, nearly all of them. 

Dozens of powerful, dangerous villains passed right out; their prone forms dropping to the ground like rocks and leaving the quasi battlefield nearly completely empty. 

"Damn it, Luffy!" Zoro barked, clearly annoyed. "You knocked too many of them out. Who am I supposed to fight now?"

"You'd have been bored by them anyway; they weren't worth your time," Luffy replied. Then he nodded towards Shigaraki, "You might be able to have some fun with Hand-guy though."

Zoro let out an amused huff but wordlessly tied his bandana in place and shed the upper part of his coat, revealing his toned, muscular chest. Deku's eyes went wide with shock and Eri gasped when they both saw the massive scar that ran from his left shoulder to his right hip.

'How... how could anyone survive a wound like that?' he wondered, his mind also going to the large, X-shaped scar on Luffy's chest. _'Who are these people?'_

"Hey, Broccoli-guy," Luffy barked, drawing Deku's attention back to him.

"Yeah?" he asked, only slightly peeved that the older teen couldn't seem to remember his name. 

"Zoro and I are going to handle these guys so you focus on getting Eri out of here, okay?" Luffy asked though this was clearly not a question. 

"But-"

"Look," Luffy cut him off roughly, "I get it, you want to fight, but you said it yourself -Eri is your responsibility. So _be_ responsible for her."

.

.

.

"...Alright," Deku agreed. The other teena was right; being a hero was all about helping others and, sometimes, that meant not fighting. He took Eri tightly by the hand and, looking her deep in the eyes, instructed with absolute seriousness, "Get ready to run."

The girl nodded, fearful but determined. Deku gave her his best reassuring smile even as he took to the battlefield. There was a thick, palpable tension in the air as villains stared down the heroes... or, hero-in-train and two pirates, as the case may be. Sooner or later, one of them would make a move and then chaos would erupt. 

"Everyone ready?" Zoro grunted, one hand rested on his sword with his eye narrowed on his target. 

" _ Mmmhmmm _ ."

"Yes."

"Then we go on- one... two...  ** THREE! ** "

And with that, they slip up, all going in different directions. Luffy charged once more towards Overhaul while Zoro took off towards Shigiraki. Deku, on the other hand, drew Eri close to him as they both ran off in the (approximate) direction of U.A. Academy.

_ 'All Might and the other pro-heroes should be heading in this direction,'  _ Deku reasoned.  _ ‘Even if they weren't following right behind us, then all the civilians should have made enough calls to the police that at least a few heroes will be here soon.' _

So he just had to keep Eri out of the hands of the villains until they could get here. 

"Run as fast as you can but watch your footing, Eri!" he encouraged, adjusting his grip on the little girl after she nearly fell; the too-large, mismatched flip-flops sliding out from under her feet. Eri winced as her poor little toes scraped against the rough pavement but she kept running all the same. 

Still running, Deku had them turn the corner around a building and led them down a narrow alleyway. Over the sound of the blood rushing in his ears and the pounding of Deku's own heart, he could hear Eri's heavy panting. 

"Just a little bit more, Eri," he urged. "The real heroes will be here soon. Once they get here, we won't need to worry. Once they get here, we'll be safe! I promise that-Ahhh!"

A sharp sting on his cheek had Deku stumbling to the side -almost toppling over onto Eri- and his hand immediately going to his face. He touched something wet and warm, pulling his hand back the young hero-in-training hissed when he saw the blood that coated his fingertips. The long, thin slice on his cheek stung as it bled salty sweat mixing with into the wound. 

"Wha-"

"That was just a warning," a female voice giggled. "I could have gotten you in the throat or in the eye with the blade if I wanted to."

At the end of the alleyway stood the pretty, petite form of Himiko Toga, her seifuku and oversized beige cardigan providing such sharp contrast with the twisted, sinister-looking blood-sucking machine on her back. The villainess twirled another thin knife between her fingers and hummed a cheery tune as Deku looked on.

"So why didn't you?" Deku asked, adrenaline rushing through his body. Though he might not have planned it, he was ready for a fight.

" _ Hmmmmm _ , I guess I just want to give you a chance to hand over the girl willingly," Himiko shrugged. "I suppose I was curious to see what you'd do."

Putting an arm out to shield the quivering Eri, Deku snarled, "I hope you didn't get your hopes you because I'll  ** never  ** let any of you ever touch Eri again! I'll never let anyone hurt her again so, if you want her, you'll have to go through me!"

Glancing down, he lightly nudged the little girl back and instructed, "Eri, go hide. Stay close as possible though."

Eri hesitated... but eventually gave a quick little nod before scampering away and out of sight. Deku turned back to his enemy and tensed, really to summon his power when needed. Even after everything he'd been through these past months, this may end up being one of his greatest tests as a hero. 

"Awww, how  _ sweet! _ You don't disappoint, little hero," Himiko giggled again. "Still, it's going to be kind of a shame to spill all of the delicious blood of a cutie like you. Hope we can have fun in the meantime though."

Then she lunged forward, swiping at Deku with her knife. The young hero-in-training jumped backward, just barely able to avoid getting his throat sliced open. Summoning a fraction of the power of One For All, Deku kicked out at the villains, creating a hard gush of air that blew down the alleyway. 

_ 'No, I missed her!' _

Himiko nimbly dodged his attack, flipping backward and twisting in mid-air to throw another knife at Deku causing him to drop to the ground as it flew over his head. Dirt blew up into his mouth and he panted hard even as he rolled back to his feet to charge at Himiko with a punch.

"Na-na na-na boo-boo, you can't catch me," the villainess chanted, dancing around Deku's punch as she taunted him. It was only sunlight glinting off her knife that gave the young hero-in-training enough warning to dodge it, though it still got close enough to slash open his shirt. 

_ 'Okay, Deku, you got to think! What do you know about her?'  _ he told himself.  _ 'Let's see, Himiko Toga... Her quirk is Transform, it grants her the ability to transform into a physical lookalike of another individual, as well as copy their voice. But she can only transform into people whose blood she has ingested and the more blood she drinks, the longer she has access to that person's form. That is a useful quirk for deception and infiltration, but she needs to get close enough to actually draw blood, so if I can avoid getting hit that I can negate her power. _

_ But-'  _ Deku jump to the side to avoid another thrown knife.  _ '-I have the same problem. She moves too fast for me to land a hit and, with her knives, she can still hit me. Not to mention, being in such an enclosed area, Himiko has the maneuverability advantage. But if I can somehow knock her down, get her off her feet, I may be able to finally get a hit in. I could bring one of the walls of these buildings down, but I don't want to risk anyone inside possibly getting hurt. So how can-' _

Twisting to avoid an attack, something back on the main street caught Deku's eyes, and an idea formed in his head.

"Are you going to keep hopping around or are we actually going to fight?" he taunted. It was not his usual style, surely, but he needed to get the villainess to follow along with what he had planned. 

" _ Awww _ , it looks like someone is growing up into a big strong hero," Himiko cooed, the sweet tone mismatched with her vicious smile. "But you're right, let's finish this!"

She charged and Deku... turned and ran. 

He sprinted toward the fire hydrant near the mouth of the alleyway. It was not a far distance, maybe thirty or forty feet at the most, but in the heat of battle, it might as well have been a thousand miles away. Deku's shoes thudded against the pavement, matching the thudding in his ears as he ran and his vision tunneled. 

_ 'Just a little further,' _ he urged himself forward, pushing his legs even harder. _ 'I just need to get-' _

" ** Ahhhhh! ** " 

Deku roared in agony and he fell forward, pain shooting up his body as the back of his left thigh began burning. Turning, he gagged when he saw the blade embedded in his flesh, blood pouring from the wound. 

"Ohhhhh," he gasped, growing nauseous as he reached out, his fingertips brushing the handle of the knife. 

"Ouch, that looks like it hurts," Himiko teased, stalking forward until she was standing over him. "Sorry, little hero, but it looks like I'll be taking the girl after all. Don't worry though, I'll-"

** BOOM! **

Channeling his strength to his hands, Deku punched a fist into the palm of his other hand, creating a shockwave that blew Himiko back. It wasn't enough to knock her out but it did stun the villainess long enough for Deku to be able to force himself up onto his feet once more.

Pushing through the pain and the general fact that having a knife embedded in your thigh severely limited movement, Deku stumbled towards the fire hydrant once again. Finally reaching it, he heard a shriek from the alleyway.

"You little bastard!" Himiko shrieked. "That hurt! It's going to take forever for my ears to pop after that!"

She lept at him, absolutely furious, and Deku smiled. Calling on the strength of One for All, he kicked off the top of the fire hydrant, causing a highly pressurized geyser of water to shoot out. Using his strength and his foot, Deku aimed the water stream at the villainess. 

Himiko was already in motion and didn't have the chance to reach. The water stream hit her straight in the chest and knocked her backward, causing her to fly back into the wall and crack her head against the brick wall. The villainess went limp and slid to the ground; Deku watched on for a long moment, holding his breath the entire time, and when she didn't move, he let out a relieved sign and sunk to the ground. 

"And that is the blood loss starting to set in," he mumbled to himself, trying to blink away the spots in his eyes and shake away the hurt in his hands.

"Deku!" 

" _ Uffff! _ " Deku smiled, even though there was a sharp flash of pain when Eri tackled him into a hug. "Hey there, Eri, good job staying safe. It's alright now -I won."

The little girl pulled her head back from his chest and looked up at him, tears in her pretty eyes, and sobbed, "But you got ** hurt! ** You got hurt because of ** me!  ** What if you had  ** died? ** What about the others? What about Luffy and his friend? What if  ** they  ** get hurt too?"

Deku put his finger up to Eri's mouth to silence her worries.

"It's okay. I'm okay," he reassured. "And Luffy-san and Zoro-san are definitely going to be okay."

"But your leg!" she wailed, staring at the blood pooling underneath Deku and the handle of the knife that was still sticking out. 

"It looks worse than it is," he lied gently. 

Eri didn't look like she believed him but she still sniffled back her tears even as she still kept her eyes glued to the knife. Swallowing hard, Eri asked, "Why don't you pull it out?"

"That would actually make things worse," Deku replied, remembering what he learned from his first aid lessons. "Right now, the knife is like a cork. If I pulled it out, I'd lose a lot more blood."

The little girl frowned for a long moment before reaching out to grab the knife handle with both hands and yanked it hard before Deku could stop her. Deku grabbed at his leg, squeezing a ring around the muscles above the wound as a desperate, make-shift tourniquet. "WHAT ARE YOU-"

The horn on Eri's head grew in size and throbbed. Much like last time Deku had witnessed the little girl's power, there was a tingling sensation in his leg and, when he looked down, the stab wound -in addition to the pain in his hands- was completely gone. 

_'Not even a scar,'_ he noted, rubbing his fingers over the healed skin. Deku smiled, big and warm, and said, "Eri, you're amazing!"

The little girl's only response was to glomp onto him again.

* * *

"So what do I call you?" Facey rasped, one eye glaring out at Zoro between the fingers of the hand clamped to his face. 

The former bounty hunter's only good eye glared back, disdain and disgust evident. "I don't care what you call me. You're not strong enough for me to waste my breath on."

Facey growled and clenched his fists. "Oh, come on... All heroes love their little names, so what is yours? Master of the Blades? The Green Swordsman?"

"All of you people are too obsessed with that title," Zoro replied, exasperated. "I'm no hero. I'm a swordsman who will be the best there is and I'm a pirate whose captain will be King of the Pirates. Nothing more, nothing less."

"A pirate? So you're a villain then."

"If that is how you see it," Zoro shrugged, pulling a single sword. "But, for now, I'm the man who will take you down. You won't be a challenge, but I guess being handicapped by not wanting to cause too much damage will make the fight a little more interesting."

Facey, having finally decided to shut up, reacted immediately. He jumped backward, sliding a hand along the ground, causing it to decay away and creating a large chasm in the street. Zoro easily jumped away, lunging forward with an exploratory swing. It wasn't one intended to do any real damage but rather to sus out the tempo this fight would go. 

Of course, Zoro could have easily ended it all in one swing, but that would just be boring. He wanted to have his fun while Luffy was busy toying with Beaky. 

So the swordsman led his opponent in a dance. They went back and forth with alternating between Handsy swiping at Zoro directly and trying to decay objects around the pair to trip him up. It never worked but Zoro was enjoying toying with his enemy, all the same. 

Which was something Handsy was definitely aware of. 

"Stop play and fight me!" he demanded, lunging towards Zoro's head. The swordsman sidestepped to avoid the attack before slamming the blunt side of his katana into the other man's stomach. Even though Zoro pulled his strength, there was definitely the tell-tale 'CRUNCH' of ribs breaking. Handsy st doubled over in pain, falling to his knees and letting out a hacking fit of coughs. 

"Why should I do that?" Zoro mocked, turning to walk away. "You looking for death or something? Don't go putting that on me."

Handsy let out a dry, bitter laugh. "Oh no, I'm not worried about that. People like you can never bring themselves to kill people like me."

Then, like the bastard he was, Handsy lashed a hand out towards Zoro's ankle. 

**_ SLASH! _ **

The severed right hand of Tomura Shigaraki flew through the air, a bright red spray of blood coloring the ground, before landing and rolling away. 

"Don't think you know me," the future greatest swordsman growled. "A true swordsman only cuts what it means to cut. I kill only what I mean to kill. And you're not worth meeting your end by my blade. Now, shut the hell up and-" he coldly stabbed straight through the other man's thigh as he screamed, "-stop bullying little girls!"

* * *

"You must really like getting your butt kicked, huh?" Luffy teased as he nimbly leaped out of the way of a pillar Overhaul shot out at him before destroying it with a single kick. "After all, why else would you try to hurt Eri again after the beatdown I gave you?"

"That girl is the key to carrying out my Father's wishes," Overhaul hissed, lunging at the young rubber man. "The Shie Hassaikai needs her! Every drop of blood in her body is the property us my organization and with will use it to- **_ACK!_** "

The masked villain fell back, reeling from the force of the punishing uppercut Luffy's Haki-infused fist drove into the underside of his chin. Stumbling backward into the side of a wall, Overhaul reached up to grab his aching chin and looked at his opponent with a disturbing combination of horror and rage, completely unnerved by the strength of his relatively unassuming looking enemy. 

"Don't you ever talk about Eri like that again!" the future King of the Pirates roared, rearing back for another punch. 

This one Overhaul managed to dodge, if only just, and threw himself forward. Rolling on the ground, he put his hands on the ground, disassembling and then reassembling it into a moving wave of asphalt that he shot at the teenager.

Luffy tried to jump away but was swallowed up by the wave, which Overhaul then re-shaped and hardened into a column so that just the teenager's head and hands were sticking out. 

Having finally pinned down the rubber-man, Overhaul, bruised, sore, and with blood still pooling in his mouth, stumbled forward towards the column. Placing one hand on either side of Luffy's head, he leaned in and hissed, "You want to know why I wear this mask? It is to shield me from germs like you! I wear it because you and your like are infecting the world with your acts of heroism and villainy! You all act like you have some grand purpose but really you are all just sick and-"

_Ptooey!_

Overhaul stumbled back, skin crawling with disgust as he reached up to wipe away the ball of spit from his forehead.

**_ ccccrrrRACK! _ **

**_ CRUNCH! _ **

Luffy pried himself from the stone column, coating his hand in Armament Haki and grabbing Overhaul by the throat. Teeth gritted in fury, he slammed the older man down one to the street with so much force that a crater formed around his body.

"Listen up," the future Pirate King exclaimed. "I'm not a hero; I don't want to be a hero! I never claim to be a hero! And I don't care about your stupid plans! But Eri is my friend and I'll make you pay for hurting her! And if doing that means I have to be a hero for a little while then  ** FINE! ** "

And with that, he tossed the masked man up in the air, took a deep breath, and...

** "GOMU GOMU NO... GATLING!" **

Blow after blow from Haki-infused first landed on Overhaul, effectively juggling him in the air to keep the attack going. 

On and on and on and on and on and on it went until Luffy eventually decided the older man had received enough punishment. Watching on dispassionately, he let Overhaul fall to the ground -completely unconscious. 

"Well, that wasn't much fun at all," Luffy mumbled, disappointed. "The people in this mystery place are so weak. I was hoping to have some fun. Hey, weirdo-," he nudged Overhaul none-to-lightly with his foot "-don't you have any fight left in you?"

All he got was a long, low pained groan in return.

Luffy sighed, crossing his arms behind his head, and leaned back to look towards the sky. "I wonder if Zoro is done with his weirdo yet? Maybe I can-"

The rubbery teenager trailed off, distracted by the tingling of his Observation Haki. 

"He's back."

A dark fog filled the air, several portals opening around the area. Through the one closest to Luffy, a familiar figure emerged.

"Hey, it's you, Scar-guy!" Luffy shouted, pointing at Dabi. "What are you doing here?"

The scarred villain blinked in surprise, startled to see the hungry teenager from a few days ago. "I remember you... Damn, so are you a hero too?"

" _ Ugggh! _ " Luffy huffed, rolling his eyes and stomping his foot. "Why does everyone keep asking that? For the last time, ** I! AM! NOT! A! HERO! ** "

"Okay, okay, okay," Dabi chuckled, holding up his hands. "Look, kid, even if you aren't a hero I'm still going to need you to stand aside. I've got to pick up all these idiots, can't let them be arrested."

"Oh, are they your friends?" the teenager asked, tilting his head to the side. 

Dabi snorted, "Hardly. Quite frankly, I couldn't give a damn about them or their plans... but I've got my own agenda and they're useful for it."

Luffy just blinked, "So are we going to fight?"

The fire-wielder just shrugged, holding up a hand and cloaking it with vibrant blue flames. "I don't know. Do you want to fight?"

"Nah, not really," the rubbery teen shrugged, nudging the still-prone Overhaul again. "I kicked his butt good, he should get the message."

"Good," Dabi said, bending down to grab Overhaul by the scruff of his shirt and starting to haul the unconscious man back towards the portals. He paused, though, when Luffy called out to him again. 

"Hey, Scar-guy," the future King of the Pirates called out. "I like your fire, it's really cool!"

Dabi froze, giving the teen a confused look. "Huh?"

"Mmmhmmm, it reminds me of my brothers," Luffy grinned excitedly. 

"Brothers..." the villain mused. "How many do you have?"

"Two," Luffy chirped, holding up two fingers in the 'V for Victory' sign. "Two big brothers."

With a soft, bitter chuckle, Dabi just turned and finished walking through the portal. But just before he vanished, he waved over his shoulder to the teenager in one final act of goodbye. 

Luffy smiled as he watched the scarred man leave, turning only when he heard three people calling his name. 

"Zoro!" he cheered. "And Eri! Oh, Broccoli-guy! You're still here!"

Deku gave a shaky smile, wondering if it was even worth correcting the older teen. "Are you okay? Did the villain..."

"Oh, they're gone. No problem," Luffy shrugged, completely unconcerned. 

A million thoughts shot through Deku's mind but the one he eventually spoke, his eyes flickering down to a hint of orange skin, was, "What is that thing on your arm?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Try to keep in mind that I'm not super familiar with MHA, certainly not as much as I am with One Piece. Still, I tried my best to keep things interesting.


	10. Chapter Ten-Conclusion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I have no intention of doing a sequel fic or anything like that but if anyone wants to write one, feel free to send me a message.

"So you guys are from a different world?" 

"Looks like it. Pretty neat, huh?" Luffy asked, tilting his head back so he could enjoy the breeze blowing across the U.A. Academy lawn.

"Neat? It's completely mind-blowing! You and Zoro-san are proof the String Theory is correct! The implications this could have on the scientific community are astounding! This is just so amazing! You said that quirks aren't a thing in your world, right? Then I wonder what else is different about your bodies, what kind of if you have different physiologies from people-" 

**_ Bonk! _ **

"Ouchy!" Deku moaned, clutching his head where Luffy had clocked him with a swift -though, for him, fairly gentle- punch. "What was that for, Luffy-san?"

"You were getting on my nerves," the rubber-man replied simply.

"Oh, sorry," Deku apologized, face flushing in embarrassment and still rubbing the growing goose egg. "But... aren't you worried, though? I mean, what if you can't get back? Not being able to go home... I can't imagine anything more horrible."

Deku's heart clenched and his stomach flipped at the thought of never being able to see his mother again. He knew she lived in fear of him getting injured or, even worse, killed on the path of being a professional hero, despite her support of him. Deku hated that, for the sake of his dreams and goals, he had to put her through that stress; it was something that kept him up at night every now and then. 

"Nah, it'll all work out in the end," Luffy shrugged, calm and relaxed. "We haven't even been here for three whole days so, yeah, I want to get back and meet up with my Nakama again but it's also not time to worry just yet."

"I wish I could have that much confidence," Deku mused, wrapping his scarred arms around his legs and pulling them close to his body. He didn't know why but the older teen just had this... energy about him that made Deku want to open up and spill all of his secrets, all of his insecurities. 

"I've had my abilities for a while now, and I'm getting better with them. But I'm still so far behind most of my classmates in that regard. I want to be a hero, it's all I've ever wanted to be but what if I don't have what it takes? What if I ended up disappointing everyone who believes in me? What if-  **_ OW!  _ STOP HITTING ME! ** " 

Deku shouted that last part, grabbing at the second, much larger bump on his head. 

Luffy gave him an uncharacteristically stern look, "Stop whining, that won't get you anywhere."

Then his face turned soft again, and he gave Deku a small smile, "Take pride in what you can do and work on what you can't."

"He is right, kid," the gruff voice of Luffy's scary friend cut in. "If you let your doubts take too much control then you've already lost. So be proud of your strength and find a way to address your weaknesses, either by improving them or finding people who can compensate for them."

" _ Mmmhmm _ , Zoro here is dumber than an animal when it comes to directions so we got an awesome navigator to make up for his idiocy," Luffy chirped, slapping the swordsman on the back.

"You're one to talk!" the green-haired man snarled, already in the process of wringing Luffy's rubbery next.

" **_ Gak! _ ** Stupid meany," Luffy croaked as the pair wrestled and Deku watched on, deeply bemused.

After about five minutes of fists flying, insults being thrown, and rolling around in the dirt, the two self-proclaimed pirates righted themselves so that they were sitting up again. Zoro, having stretched his 'captain's' ears out and tied them neatly into a bow, turned back to Deku and continued.

"Anyway, what I'm saying, kid, is that you need to dedicate yourself fully to your dream," the man imparted, "and accepting that you might fail, that you might die, is part of it. Maybe you're too much of a wimp to accomplish it just yet but, if your conviction is strong enough, then you are on the right track. You said you're worried about letting down the people who believe in you? Well, I guarantee they will be more disappointed if you half-ass your efforts."

The green-haired man was intimidating, with a general aura like he'd sooner cut someone down for bumping into him than offer up advice to a young hero-in-training, and his voice was gruff. He also slept a lot and drank whatever alcohol he could get his hands on... including what Deku was pretty sure was rubbing alcohol from the infirmary. 

Still... Deku felt himself sit up straighter at the man's words and he grinner. "Zoro-san, I-"

"That sounds like pretty solid advice to me."

All three young men turned and a choir of cheers when Eraser Head turned the corner, holding the hand of a beaming Eri. 

"Awww, Eri, you look so pretty," Deku exclaimed. 

The little girl flushed, ducking to hide her face. After another round of check-ups with Recovery Girl, Eri had finally been taken to get a proper wardrobe by Mt. Lady. Today she was wearing a white dress shirt with a frilled collar and a plain red pinafore with two large, golden buttons on either side of her chest. Under this, she had donned a pair of gray tights and a set of tan boots; hanging by her side was a small dark red messenger bag with a cute little floral pattern decorating one of its sides.

"Yeah, you look great!" Luffy clapped as Zoro nodded in agreement with a sharp grin. 

"We also got her a haircut," Aizawa added, putting a hand on the little girl's head to smooth back the straighter, neater silvery locks. "Personally, I think it looks good."

"You already look like a different person," the rubber-man chuckled. "In fact, who are you again?"

Eri looked confused, but then she just giggled and ran forward to tackle Luffy in a hug. "You're so silly," the girl laughed as Luffy tickled her sides and settled her into his lap. 

Deku could only join in the laughter, the pairs' joy was absolutely infection. "You're really good with kids, Luffy-san."

"Yeah, that is because he is on their level mentally," Zoro grumbled, his tone in complete contrast to the obvious affection shining in his eye as he watched Eri and Luffy goof around.

Deku didn't know the history between these two young men, didn't understand the ties that bound them together, but even he, as an outsider looking in, could tell how close they were. He imagined that only a few people in the world were lucky enough to have that close to someone. 

But that somber thought was shoved away as Deu watched Eri tug at Luffy's stretchy cheeks, giggling all the way. "She looks so happy," he said softly to himself.

Evidently, someone overheard him. 

"She sure does," Eraser Head agreed, giving a rare smile. "She has a long road of recovery ahead of her, but I think Eri will be just fine."

"What is going to happen to her?" Deku asked, worry surging through his body. "The people after her are still out there! She could still be in danger!"

"You're right, which is why Eri is going to be living with me after she is finished with her hospital stay," the pro-hero admitted. Somewhat bashful, oddly enough. "It was deemed too dangerous to put her into the system, especially given how unstable her quirk is." 

Deku's eyes nearly bugged out of his skull. "You're going to be looking after her?"

"What does that mean?" Eraser Head glared.

"Uh... nothing?"

"It means you're kind of a jerk," Luffy butted in, turning his head to the side as Eri continued pulling on it.

"...That reminds me, there will be someone from the government coming to meet with you two idiots later today," Aizawa grunted. "We're going to try to spin the 'from a different world' thing but don't go leaving the U.A. campus."

With that demand, the pro-hero turned and left, allowing them to continue playing with Eri. At least for now.

"Can we have dinner together tonight?" the little girl asked.

"Mmm, that would be a lot of fun, but we won't be around that long," Luffy replied, bumping his forehead against hers.

Eri frown, an action Deku mirrored.

"What do you mean?"

Yeah, Aiwaza-sensei just said that you both have to stay here," Deku added, not wanting his new friends to get into trouble. 

"Luffy is right, we'll be leaving soon," Zoro grunted. "It's for the best too, neither of us wants anything to do with your government. Even if yours seems better than the one we have to deal with, it is for the best that our paths don't cross."

"Why not?" Eri asked, what remains of her childhood innocence poking through.

Both men frowned but said nothing; Zoro clenched his jaw, and Luffy scratched the massive, x-shaped scar on his chest. Even without words, Deku knew better than to ask again. 

"Okay, I understand," he said with a respectful nod. "I won't tell anyone when you leave."

Eri looked at him with shock in her big eyes, "But-"

Luffy inhaled sharply, causing all eyes to turn to him. The rubber-man held up his arm, and Deku's eyes went wide when he saw that the orange, metallic-looking band around his forearm was glowing.

"What the..." Deku gasped, already trying to get to his feet. "Stay still, I'm going to go get Aiwaza-sensei!  ** SOMEONE, HELP! ** "

"Nah, it's okay," Luffy waved him off, staring at his own arm. "I kinda figured this would happen."

"What?"

"Yeah, it looks like it is time to go," Zoro said, examining the ring around his own arm. "One ring for each day... There are weirder Devil Fruits, I supposed."

Eri whimpered and grabbed his arm in a vice-like grip, her fingernails digging into his arm, but Deku could only watch on is half-amazement and half-horror as the glistening orange-silver aura expanded to cover the rest of Zoro and Luffy's bodies. 

"We're going home," the rubber-man smiled, one hand on his straw hat and one hand on his scarred chest. "We're going to see our Nakama."

At those words, Eri burst into tears. " ** I! DON'T! WANT! YOU! TO! GO! ** " 

"Aw, it'll be alright. No matter how far away we are from one another, we're still friends," Luffy reassured. Then, as he and the swordsman began to fade out of existence, his eyes and smile went to Deku, "Hey, Broccoli-guy, watch out for Eri, okay?"

Swallowing back his tears, the young hero-in-training could only nod viciously. 

"Good! Oh... and you better grow up to be a great hero, Broccoli-guy, or I'll have to come back here and kick your ass!"

With one final wave from Luffy and a nod from Zoro, the pair of young men vanished in one final burst of bright light. It was like they were never there at all.

_ 'But they were there, Luffy-san, and I swear that I'll never forget you or my promise,' _ Deku, the future Greatest Hero in the World, swore to himself.

But, for now, he just pulled a still sobbing Eri into a comforting hug. 

"I already miss him  _ so much _ ," she openly wept. "What if he gets hurt? What if we never get to see him again?"

Deku rubbed his cheek against the top of the girl's silky-soft hair. "Well, I don't know if we'll ever get to meet Luffy-san again... but I can promise that, no matter what happens, he will be alright."

Eri looked up at him with her watery red eyes, "How do you know that?"

"Because he is the one who will be the King of the Pirates."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SPOILERS:
> 
> On behalf of myself and all the other believers in the Dabi-is-Touya-Theory, I have one thing to say.
> 
> VINDICATION!


End file.
